I was very upfront with my plans when shopping for a ped. - home birth, delayed vax, ext. The first Dr. started spouting off statistics about vax and how important it was to be on schedule, so I said thank you and found someone else. My current Dr. is awesome! His philosophy is "mom knows best" - if I feel delaying is best for my child then that is what is best for my child.
As for what we did - we declined all immediate medications (vit. k, eye goop, ext). But still had our first ped. appointment at 3 days old. He saw her at 3 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, (9 and 12 months are next) we did no medical anything until 6 months when Lulu got her first first vax (2 out of 3 we declined the flu shot). When we went to this appointment the health nurse pressured us to "get back on track" by coming every 3 weeks. We declined this, and will continue on the every 2 month track (here they are done at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months) we will do 6, 8, 10, and 12. My Dr. supported this decision.

We also are on a delayed schedule. We still see the pedi at all the regular times, we just dont do the shots. I did get kind of pressured to have dd get the pnemonia vax at her six month appt but we have decided to forgo any further vax for now. Her risk is very low for pretty much anything but we are extra diligent about having her seen at the first signs of illness (she has had two minor colds).

We really like our pedi but she is a bit of a vax pusher despite her office being "delayed vax friendly." So i just let her spout off what she wants, consider it, and then my husband and i discuss it prior to the next appt.

Def be upfront from the start, even before baby is born. Some offices will decline seeing your child if they deem your beliefs about delayed vax contrary to their office policies.

Read the book Bad Pharma. It talks not about vaccines, but about the deception, lies, scandals, and financial incentives for drug makers to lie in the reports they provide to the Authority. It is true that vaccines work, years of evidence tell us this, but no doctor can tell you they are safe. Don't feel pressured or guilty for your choice because the industry is probably lying to you about the safety of the product they sell. If the past is any predictor of the future.
You can also listen to this to if you have time and want to feel all fired up: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/201..._on_big_p.html

I think if people expressed skepticism at ALL pharma products when rejecting vaccines doctors would not be so high-on-the-horse. There is more than enough evidence to show the industry has a policy of lying to doctors, patients, and governments. Sorry, this is sort not directly related to your question. I have been thinking about the same thing, how will I express my unwillingness to accept vaccines to the doctor who who will immediately think I am some nut-bagger.

We had no trouble finding a pediatrician who had the same mindset as us. She is all about holistic healing, in looking at the whole picture, including nutrition, rather than just treating symptoms. She's fine with our staggered schedule and helped us come up with the best plan to get the most important shots first, and save the others for later. Love her!

We started getting shots at 2 months and are going in monthly. I know you didn't ask, but I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, but daycare is fine with it too. I just have to get my vaccination sheet every time we get a new shot which says on the bottom that we have a planned schedule and the shots are in progress.

We've had pediatricians in two different states so far, and it was pretty easy to find one that didn't mind us non-vaxing. We only took our oldest to her first few appointments (I think we stopped before 6 months), and then we took DD2 to two appointments after she was born. I then took them in for an appointment when they were 2 and almost 5 because I wanted to find a pediatrician in our new town (there are only two to choose from, with the next closest being 3.5 hours away). So I just scheduled an appointment with one of them, and she didn't say a thing when I told her my girls aren't vaxed. We've had pretty good luck so far with pediatricians who let us do what we want.

__________________~Rina~
wife to John (8/5/00) mom to D (7), A (4.5), and N (2)